Sunday, July 07, 2013

Tommy Stinson's next band after Bash & Pop was Perfect, who formed in 1995. Their only official release during their brief existence was the near-perfect, when Squirrels Play Chicken EP, that (in my option) is the best collection of songs Stinson has recorded. A close second would be the follow-up full length the band recorded, but was shelved before it was release, Seven Days A Week. I received a "leaked" copy in a trade many years ago and it was a head shaker to why it didn't get released. Advance copies had been sent out (hence the leak), but because their label was bought out by another. Eventually, a remixed and re sequenced version of Seven Days A Week was released as, Once, Twice, Three Times A Maybe in 2004.

The recording below was recorded exactly 17 years ago at Pachyderm Studios in rural Minnesota. The recording has perfect sound as it was broadcast on the radio complete with a studio audience (contest winners?) and a live performance. The songs and performance are great with Tommy in good spirits and the band tight and crisp. An amazing cover of Elton John's, Crocodile Rock conclude this essential set.
Enjoy!

After the Replacements disbanded in 1991, Tommy Stinson formed his first post-Replacements band, Bash & Pop in 1992. Tommy switched to guitar, took lead vocals and wrote the songs, but the band was short lived and disbanded in 1994. The band recorded and released just one album (and a track to the Clerks soundtrack), Friday Night Is Killing Me and I thought it held it's own up against the other ex-Replacement's first projects as it showed flashes of brilliance that makes Stinson a legitimate frontman. The songs were catchy, poppy and sometimes rocked hard, but I thought the slower tracks (Friday Night (Is Killing Me) and Nothing) had a sensitivity I didn't think Stinson had.

There aren't a lot of live recordings of Bash & Pop (they only lasted 2 years) and the setlists are similar since they only had an album's worth of material. This concert from the University of South Dakota has excellent sound (soundboard quality) and though the performance was loose with a mid-song stop and a false start, this is well worth the listen for any Mats fan. For the story behind the recording, read about it here.
Enjoy!

Monday, July 01, 2013

Here's a good one! 1984 was a big year for the Replacements, the album, Let It Be was released and the band toured extensively through the states, the mid-West, East coast and the West Coast. Multiple appearances in New York City attracted much attention including the attention of major label reps hoping to sign the band. A couple of the shows at CBGB's have been well documented on this blog (here and here) and if you're a fan of live recordings from the Replacements, 1984 produced some good ones.

One of the better sounding shows of 1984 was a show at Club Lingerie in Hollywood. Not only is sound outstanding (for an earlier show), but the performance is tight, coherent and energized. Considering this is a couple of weeks before the infamous, "Shit Hits The Fans" show and just over a month before the classic drunken CBGB's show, they play it fairly straight with less drunken covers or foolishness and the setlist documents the era perfectly. Yes, this is a good one, get it!
Enjoy!